Collapsible storage and shipping containers



April 26, 1955 A. Y. SCHULTZ 2,707,048

COLLAPSIBLE STORAGE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS Filed May 12, 1952 2 sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

ABRAHAM Y. SCHULTZ BY April 26, 1955 A. Y. SCHULTZ COLLAPSIBLE STORAGE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 12, 1952 W m%. M V W N M A .@m A B United States Patent COLLAPSIBLE STORAGE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS This invention relates in general to certain new and useful unprovements in containers and, more particularly, to a collapsible storage and shipping container for irregularly-shaped objects preferably, though not necessarrly, requiring continuous ventilation, such as shoe lasts, for example.

For many years there has been a recognized need for a collapsible and universally sized shipping and storage container adapted for receiving irregularly-shaped objects and, particularly, objects which require continuous ventilation during storage. The problem can perhaps be best illustrated in relation to the storaging or warehousing of shoe lasts for making shoes. Many shoe manufacturers have developed large inventories of lasts which are used over and over again and are frequently shipped between different shoe plants or to and from storage or warehousing facilities.

Such shoe lasts are of highly irregular shape and are difiicult to store. Furthermore, shoe lasts are expensive and, being made of hardwood, will tend to crack, shrink, or otherwise change size and shape if stored improperly. It is present practice to store shoe lasts in burlap bag but such methods are unsatisfactory, since bagged shoe lasts make irregularly shaped packages which do not stack readily and are not fully well ventilated. Furthermore, burlap bags furnish very little protection for the shoe lasts during storage and shipment.

Another related problem results from the fact that shoes of dilferent size and width require correspondingly sized lasts. Actually, the smaller sized lasts will occupy less space than the very large sized lasts. The small lasts in the size range from sizes 7 to 9 may, for example, by packaged in small containers or in bags making relatively somewhat smaller package-units. The intermediate size range from size 9 /2 to 11 may be packed in the intermediate size package-units and, finally, the large sizes, such as sizes 11 /2 to 13, may be packed in a large sized package-unit. This practice, of course,

leads to further complications both in the storage depots and in the manufacturers warehouses, because it is necessary to segregate the different sizes.

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a collapsible shipping and storage case for irregular objects, such as shoe lasts and the like, which is rugged and durable and is so arranged as to afford free air circulation or ventilation around the ob jects packed therein.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a container of the type stated which may be readily and simply collapsed into a compact flat package when not in use and may, correspondingly, be opened up and set up for use as a container in a simple, convenient, and rapid manner.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a container of the type stated which has no protruding or external hardware and is comparatively economical in cost.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a container of the type stated which is uniquely arranged so as to be universal in the sense that it will accommodate and properly house a wide range of sizes; thereby eliminating the need for a plurality of diflerent sized containers to accommodate various size ranges of the objects to be housed therein.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a container of the type stated which, when filled, can be easily and conveniently stacked, handled and maneuvered during loading, unloading, and storage.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a collapsible container constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the collapsible container;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the container in collapsed or so-called knocked-down position for storage when not in actual use; and

Figure 7 is an exploded view of the container illustrating the manner in which it is set up and assembled for actual use as a container.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, A designates a collapsible shipping and storage container comprising top and bottom members 1, 2, and a side-wall unit 3.

The side-wall unit 3 comprises four identical cornerforming hinges 4, each having a length approximately equal to the vertical height of the sidewall unit 3, and including hinge leaves 5, 6, connected by an elongated hinge-pin 7 which projects at its opposite ends outwardly beyond the hinge 4 and is threaded along such outwardly projecting end in the provision of integral screw'posts 8. Secured preferably by means of tubular screws 9, or other non-protruding fasteners, to, and extending longitudinally between, opposite hinge plates 5, 6, of opposing hinges 4 are side-wall forming boards 10, 11, 12, 13, and somewhat shorter end-wall forming boards 14, 15, 16, 17, the boards 10, 12, 14, 16, being respectively spaced along their inner longitudinal margins from the boards 11, 13, 15, 17, in the provision of a continuous ventilating gap 18 extending around the middle of the container when the side-wall unit 3 is in upright position, as best seen in Figures 1 and 7. The boards 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, are all provided with pairs of circular ventilating apertures 19, which are so placed as to facilitate the circulation of air through the packed container without materially weakening the strength thereof.

The top and bottom members 1, 2, are identical in shape and construction and comprise three edgewise spaced parallel boards 20, 21, 22, nailed in spaced parallel relation to end battens 23, 24, and a central batten 25 in such a manner as to provide longitudinal ventilation gaps 26, 27. At their four corners, the top and bottom members are provided with apertures 28 located and sized for snugly fitting around the upwardly extending screwposts 8 of the hinge-pins 7. The apertures 28 are counterbored, as at 29, for loosely accommodating washers 30 and wing nuts 31 threaded upon the screw-posts 8 when the container A is in set-up position, as shown in Figure 3.

Also provided for optional use with the container A is a plurality of horizontal rectangular partitions 32, each being formed preferably of plywood or other similar thin relatively strong material adapted to fit somewhat loosely within the interior of the sidewall unit 3 when the latter is in set-up or operative position. The partitions 32 are arcuately cut out at their corners in the provision of quarter-round recesses 33 for fitting against the inner arcuate portions of the hinges 4, as shown in Figure 5.

When not in use, the side-wall forming unit 3 may be folded into flat collapsed position and stacked upon the two bottom members 1, 2, together with the desired number of partitions 32 to form a compact unit, as shown in Figure 6. If necessary, the collapsed container view taken along A may be banded by conventional steel bands, or tied together in any other conventional way for shipment or storage in such collapsed position. For use as a container, the side-wall unit 3 may be folded out into upright position, as shown in Figure 7, and the bottom mem ber securely fastened thereto by means of the washers 30 and wing nuts 31. Thereupon, a plurality of shoe lasts may be packed therein in a plurality of layers separated by the partitions 32 in the manner shown in Figure 4. Finally, the top member 1 may be placed over the open top of the side-wall unit 3 and securely fastened thereto by means of washers 30 and wing nuts 31 to provide a completely closed, structurally strong, rigid, container A, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. By reference to Figure 4, it will be noted that the ventilating gaps 18, 26, 27, and the ventilating apertures 19, serve to afiord free circulation of air through the container A and around the shoe lasts or other contents c.

It will be evident that the collapsible container may very readily be stored in knocked-down position and will require little storage room in the average shoe factory or may be very quickly and conveniently set up for use as a container whenever the need arises. It Will also be evident that by reason of the optional use of partitions 32 the container is extremely flexible in its adaptabilty to various difierent types of contents. For example, if the container is intended to house shoe lasts, the shoe lasts may be packaged in three layers, as shown in Figure 4, or, if desired, two layers may be used instead of three layers as may be necessary in the case of large sizes. Similarly, enough width is provided to accommodate various different lengths, the pairs of lasts being so nested that the shorter lasts will fit more closely together and will permit more pairs to be inserted in a single layer. If desired, the partitions 32 may even be entirely omitted and the shoe lasts or other contents deposited loosely and in a haphazard manner within the container where circumstances so require or permit.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the collapsible storage and shipping container may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A shipping and storage package of shoe lasts including a plurality of shoe lasts and a container therefor comprising four elongated corner-forming hinges, each having continuous plate-like hinged leaves rotatably and permanently connected by a hinge pin, four substantially rectangular walls, each formed of a plurality of spaced parallel boards, said spaced boards being arranged in side wall forming groups, the boards in each group being rigidly connected at their ends between opposing hinge leaves at different hinges and being thereby held in said spaced parallel relation and consequently having gaps therebetween to provide ventilation to the interior of the container, each wall further being hingedly connected across its opposite transverse margins to two adjacent walls in the formation of a side-wall unit capable of being optionally folded into flatwise collapsed position or into upright position in which opposite walls are parallel and adjacent walls are perpendicular to each other, a flat, generally rectangular, rigid, solid partition disposed horizontally within said side-wall unit when the latter is in upright position, said partition being cut away at the corners thereof to clear said hinges and being of substantially the same length and width as the internal length and width of said side-wall unit so that the partition will bear marginally against the interior faces of the side wall unit when the latter is in operative position whereby to impart rectilinear stabilty to, and resist deformation of, said unit, said lasts being arranged in layers with said partition being disposed between two of the layers, said side-wall unit being free of any obstruction to vertical movement of said horizontal partition so that the latter may assume whatever position is dictated by the layers of lasts in the container, a rectangular top wall, a rectangular bottom wall, and means for securing said top and bottom walls at their corners to said hinge pins when the side-wall unit is in upright position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 627,745 Demorest June 27, 1899 883,907 Perigo Apr. 7, 1908 920,162 Lane May 4, 1909 933,876 Bokop Sept. 14, 1909 2,393,099 Friday Jan. 15, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 14,909/33 Australia Oct. 24, 1933 892,502 France Jan. 10, 1944 252,469 Switzerland Sept. 16, 1948 

